


My Kind of Crazy

by EVictoria



Category: Ghostbusters (2016), Ghostbusters - All Media Types
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-17
Updated: 2017-01-02
Packaged: 2018-09-09 06:39:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8879815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EVictoria/pseuds/EVictoria
Summary: Isabelle Moran was a normal kinda gal. She eat, she slept, she worked. She also saw ghosts, but let's not get into that. In a crazy world of ectoplasm and green slime, the woman who sees ghosts and the woman who fights them don't seem like such an odd couple.





	1. Prologue

** Prologue **

 

From an early age, Isabelle Moran was told she was crazy. Seeing ghosts, she supposed, was reasonable cause to support that diagnosis. Numerous therapists and psych evaluations had done nothing to assuage her belief that the apparitions were real. Eventually, however, she stopped telling people about them, so everyone believed that she was “better”, and allowed her to move on with her life. Of course, changing continents also helped with that; the move from London to New York could not have been more welcome.

She grew accustomed to seeing them, at her flat, at work, at the gym, at the grocery store. They were mostly harmless. A few threw tantrums from time to time, but they were mostly benign.

Until, that is, they weren’t. Until they poured onto the streets of New York City and caused mayhem. But  _ everybody else could see them. _ For the first time ever, nobody questioned her sanity when she asked them if they saw the ghosts too.

But then the ‘Ghostbusters’ closed the portal and they all got sucked back in. She still saw the occasional spectre, but nothing troublesome. Occasionally others would see them too, but more often than not it was back to normal.

 

Well,  _ her _ normal anyway.


	2. One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A meeting with the Ghostbusters and a discovery about herself leaves Isabelle reeling.

**One**

 

Screams tore through the air on Brooklyn Bridge. Cars were fleeing on both sides and people were in full on rampage mode, shoving each other out the way in their rush to get away.

The cause of the chaos: a 7 foot tall ghost in the middle of the bridge. Not doing anything, simply- hovering, an eerie blue glow surrounding it. In front of it: a girl, just staring at the spectral figure of a Victorian-era man.

 

“Alright, Ghostbusters! Ghostbusters coming through!” Dr Abby Yates pushed her way through, trying not to hit anybody with the large proton pack on her back.

“Everybody keep calm! Everything is under control!” Dr Erin Gilbert insisted to the people frantically vacating the bridge, not without a hint of panic in her voice.

“Woah, woah, woah, wait.” Patty Tolan flung her arm out to halt the other two. “What the…?”

They all stared, mouths open, at the scene before them. The young woman stood, holding her hand up to the ghost (who, in turn, had it’s translucent palm pressed against hers).

“Coming through! Coming through! Sensitive equipment here, watch yourself! Coming thr- oof.” Dr Jillian Holtzmann came to a clattering halt as she ran into the other three, her arms full of what looked like the contents of a junkyard.

“Hold up, Holtzy. We got a situation here.”

 

It was at that moment that they drew the attention of the other woman. Jumping, she turned to them.

“Uh…” She halted, eyes wide and brows furrowed.

Taking pity on her, Abby stepped forward, clearing her throat.

“Hi there. Uh, I’m Abby- Dr Abby Yates. These are my friends; Dr Erin Gilbert, Patty Tolan and Dr Jillian Holtzmann.” She indicated each of them in turn and they gave a small wave, a nod and a bow respectively.

“I, um. I’m Isabelle Moran. You must be the Ghostbusters.” She spoke with a quiet sort of confidence, her eyes flitting between the four of them.

“Indeed we are. And if you don’t mind me asking, Isabelle- what were you doing? Just then, what was that?” Abby eyed the ghost, still just hovering.

Isabelle whipped around to gaze at it briefly, then back to Abby, a line appearing between her brows. “I don’t know. I- he was just there, and I’ve seen him before so, so I just…” She trailed off and averted her gaze to the Brooklyn skyline stretching ot behind them.

“You’ve seen it before?” Erin stepped forward to where her friend was.

“Yes.”

“Where?”

“Here and there. London, Manhattan, Times Square…”

“You’ve seen,” she pointed to it. “This particular ghost, in London? And Manhattan, and Times Square?”

“Yeah,” she cleared her throat. “Yes. But no-one else saw him...before…”

The Ghostbusters looked at each other in confusion.

“Do you see ghosts often?” Patty asked.

“Yes.”

“Really?”

“ _Yes._ ”

Holtzmann stepped up to the girl. “And no-one else sees them when you do?”

Isabelle scoffed, finally looking at someone. There was fire in her eyes. “What, are you calling me crazy?”

“Hey, hey!” The blonde laid a placating hand on her shoulder. “I am in no position to call anyone crazy, I assure you. Just tryna get a measure of you here.”

She sighed, and the fire dissipated. “I know. I’m sorry. Just so used to having to be on the defense, I guess… Yes, I see them when no-one else does.”

“Hmm. Interesting… Ya hear that, Abs?”

“I heard it.”

“You mind coming back to the lab with us?”

“I- uh-”

“Sheesh, give the girl time to breathe, Holtzy.” Patty clapped a hand down onto her friend’s shoulder. Holtzmann winced. “Ghost first, girls later.”

“Right you are, Pattycakes, let’s kick some ecto-ass!”

 

All four of them leaped into action, but right before they could pull their triggers-

“ _Wait!_ ”

They froze at the sound of a cry.

“Don’t do that.”

“It’s, um,” Erin paused, staring at the strange girl who saw ghosts, “it’s kind of our job.”

“But he’s not a threat!”

“He’s a ghost!”

“What harm is he doing anyone?”

“Well, he’s disrupting traffic for one!” Patty raised an eyebrow.

“Let me talk to him.”

“You don’t talk to ghosts,” Erin scoffed, “believe me: I’ve tried.”

“ _I_ do talk to ghosts,” Isabelle asserted forcefully, glaring, “believe me, I’ve been dealing with them for 27 years.”

 Abby’s eyebrows hit her hairline as she considered this. A silent debate seemed to go on between her and Erin. Eventually the latter conceded, lowering her weapon and stepping back, arms raised in surrender.

“I guess it’s worth a shot,” Abby said.

“Thank you.” She caught Erin’s eye, “ _thank you_.” The older woman nodded back at her.

 

Isabelle stepped up to the ghost, still just hovering, staring off into the distance, and the others each moved away.

“Hey there, buddy.” She spoke softly, and the ghost looked right at her.

“Oh, here it comes, here it comes…” Erin muttered.

“You’re English,” the ghost spoke with a somewhat stereotypical English accents, all drawn out vowels and narrow mouth, more posh than Isabelle’s soft spoken speech.

“What? No slime?!” Erin hissed in annoyance. Abby shot her a frown.

“Yes, I am. So are you.”

“Hm. They are not.” He swept his arm towards the others.

“No, they’re not. They’re American.”

“Why are the Americans here?”

“Because, well, we’re in America.”

“Oh. I thought the skyline looked different.” He resumed his staring.

“Excuse me, Mr…?”

“Doyle. Mr Henry Doyle.”

“Mr Doyle, do you know where you are?”

“I did rather think you’d have the answer to that, Miss Moran.”

Isabelle’s eyes widened and she took another step forward. Holtzmann moved closer in alarm, followed by Patty, but the younger brunette held up a hand, halting them.

“How do you know my name?”

“You are the one who brought me here, after all. It is only polite to learn one’s host’s name.”

“I- what?! I didn’t bring you here!”

“Not consciously, maybe.”

“I don’t understand.” She looked stricken.

The others instinctively moved closer to her, and someone laid a hand on her arm.

“Have you never wondered why you can see us?”

“Of course I have!”

“You are an anchor in this plain. We are attracted to you because you stop us from drifting into the beyond.”

Isabelle’s eyes were the size of dinner plates.

“That is why you can see us; you are our link between this world and the next. We thought you knew.”

“No… no I didn’t.” She frowned, her pale brown eyes wide and fixated on the floor in front of her.

“So you choose to be here?” Abby butted in.

Henry chuckled softly. “Of course.”

“Why?”

“Why else? We, most of us, are scared. The prospect of death is a terrifying one, more so once it has occurred. We tend to keep to the shadows if we can help it.”

“But, the ones we deal with-?”

“Are angry. They cling to this world for revenge, or spite.”

“Could you… choose to let go, to move on?” Isabelle asked hesitantly, shook from her reverie.

Henry looked at her, fear evident in her eyes.

“I could help you.”

“How?” He gazed at her reproachfully.

She stepped forward and the hand on her arm fell away. She held out her hand to the spectre.

“You don’t have to be alone.”

“Isabelle-” She hushed Abby with a wave of her hand.

“Don’t be afraid. It’s the most natural thing in the world. Just like falling asleep.”

The ghost of Henry Doyle reached out and grasped her hand. It was an odd sensation, ice cold yet boiling all at once.

“I’m scared.”

“I know you are, but you don’t have to be. Death isn’t something to be afraid of. You just have to let go…”

And he did. He faded slowly out of sight, leaving nothing but a puddle of green goo behind.

 

Isabelle drew a shaky breath, and turned to face the other four.

“There you go then, ghost busted. If you don’t mind, I’ll just be heading home.”

As she turned to go, Abby caught her arm and pulled her back with surprising strength for her size.

“Oh, no you don’t. You’re coming back with us.”

“You know abduction is totally illegal, right?”

Holtzmann laughed and Abby rolled her eyes.

“But sure, if that’s the route you want to take, I’ll surrender peacefully. Those guns of yours look pretty powerful.”

“Oh, they wouldn’t do much to you. Electric shock, maybe third degree burns.” Holtzmann’s words didn’t have the desired shock effect.

“I guess I’d better do as you say then.” She maintained eye contact with the blonde for slightly longer than was strictly necessary, before the latter jumped slightly.

“To the Ecto!” She pointed dramatically and shot off in the direction of the hearse.

“You might wanna brace yourself, baby. Holtzy’s driving is, uh, it’s quite the experience.” Patty steered her towards the car, the other two trailing behind, talking excitedly.

 

Whatever Isabelle had expected of her day, this sure wasn’t it.


	3. Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back at the firehouse, things get manic and Isabelle gets questioned.

** Two **

 

Arriving at the firehouse, Isabelle was steered inside, only to be left at the side as a flurry of movement overtook the space.

“Holtz, you got the footage?”

“On the camera!”

“Where’s the-?”

“I think Erin had it!”

“Yeah, I got it! Patty, you putting it on the tracking chart?”

“You bet I am! Yo, someone throw me the pin jar!”

“Comin’ atcha!”

“Abby, come check this data, will you?”

“Gimme a sec, be right with ya.”

“Erin, where’d you put your proton blaster?”

“On your desk, Holtz!”

“Nnnnnnno…”

“Pretty sure I did.”

“No, you put your proton _pack_ on my desk, where’s your blaster?”

“Uh, check my station.”

“Nope. Okay, we got a blaster down! Can anyone see Erin’s blaster? This could be a matter of life or death.”

“Life or death? _Really, Holtzy?!_ ”

“If left near titanium for extended periods of time, I, I’m seeing minor to medium explosions.”

“Holtz! I’ve been using that thing!”

“Seriously, Holtzmann?”

“Don’t worry, I’m sure it’ll be fine. Just, yeah, if everybody could have a hunt- it may save us another trip to the emergency room.”

 

Isabelle watched this small scene unfold rapidly, all four women talking over the top of each other so fast it was hard to keep track.

Looking to her left, she spotted an odd looking gun poking out of the navy coat Erin was wearing. Pulling it out delicately, she held it up.

“Is this what you’re looking for, by any chance?”

Four heads turned at once to stare at her. Four audible sighs of relief could be heard.

Holtzmann waltzed up to her, taking the object from her hands with reverence and placing it on the lab work station behind her. Turning back, she swept the brunette up in a huge hug, lifting her off the ground and spinning her around. She let out a small squeal of surprise.

“I could kiss you!” Holtz placed her back where she was stood and immediately set to work again, tinkering with the proton blaster.

Isabelle shifted her gaze to the rest of the team, raising her eyebrow. “You wanted to talk to me? Run tests? I’m assuming there’s a reason I’m here.” She smiled slightly, nothing more than a twitching of the lips.

“Yes!” Abby moved towards her. “Do you mind if we film you answering our questions? For data purposes only.”

“Sure, of course.”

“Holtz, set it up.”

 

* * *

 

An hour later (there was another panic as Holtzmann’s desk caught fire- “I forgot the grenade was on there!” - “Who just _forgets_ about a grenade?!”), Isabelle was sat in a booth, nervously shifting her weight around. The other four were sat opposite her, and a video camera was pointing at her face.

“So, Isabelle. Come here often?” Holtzmann leaned forward and rested her chin on her fist.

“Uh...no?”

“Ignore her, it’s just her way of saying hello.” Erin pulled her friend back slightly.

“Isabelle.” Abby took charge. “How long have you been seeing ghosts?”

“For as long as I can remember. Early childhood, certainly; possibly since birth.”

“Did it not scare the bejeezus out of you?” Patty asked incredulously.

“Well, yes. At first. Got myself into a _lot_ of trouble, a _lot_ of counselling.” She got a distant look in her eyes. “Some really rough years. But I learned eventually to just keep my mouth shut. After being exposed to them for long enough, they stopped scaring me.”

All four women gazed at her with sympathy.

“I’m fine now! Honestly, it’s not a sob story or a tragic origins kind of thing. I’m just not scared of them anymore.”

“...Even the angry ones?” Abby raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, _heck no._ Those creepy sons of bitches scare the living daylights out of me!”

Abby nodded, reassured their new friend wasn’t a psychopath.

“Do they talk to you?” Holtzmann leaned forward again, curious.

“Yeah, sometimes.”

“And you speak back?”

“If I’m not doing something.”

“So, like, you’ll talk to these things in public, when no one else can see them?”

Seeing what the blonde was getting at, Isabelle laughed. “No, not in public. I ignore them most of the time, to be honest I’ve got a habit of kind of tuning them out? I don’t really notice they’re there.”

 

“Do they ever slime you?”

“Um...no?”

“Damnit.”

 

* * *

 

“Okay, I think we’re done here. Patty, if you want to file the footage away with the others.”

“On it, boss.”

Patty removed the sim card from the device and took it over to one of many filing cabinets in the corner of the room.

Attention caught, Isabelle turned to Abby with a quizzical frown.

“Uh, Abby?”

“Yeah?” The shorter woman grinned back at her.

“Do- do you not have a computer?”

“Nooo.”

“No online filing system at all?”

“Nope.”

“ _That_ ,” she waved her arms in the direction of the cabinets, “is your data storage?!”

“Yes! What’re ya getting at?”

“That’s ridiculous! It’s 2017!”

“Well, none of us really know how to work computers, and Patty’s _great_ at filing!”

“I’m sure she is, but- I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be rude- but you’ve had one near disaster and one desk fire in the hour I’ve been here! If something were to happen to this place, all your paper copies would be lost, all your data gone!”

Erin and Holtzmann both rushed over to the pair with wide eyes, Patty looking up in horror before hugging her filing cabinets protectively.

“I- I guess we never really thought of that. We’ve been so busy recently.”

“But-” Holtzmann started.

“The data!” Erin finished, both looking between Abby and Isabelle with panic on their faces.

“I may be able to help.” Isabelle told them.

“Would you?”

“Please?”

She laughed at the pair, before turning back to Abby. “I’m a computer programmer. I can point you towards the best equipment for your purposes and get a system all set up for you.”

Abby smiled gratefully.

“Thanks, but we couldn’t ask you to do that-”

“Oh yes we could!” Piped up Patty from the corner.

“- and besides, you have a job to do already.”

“You can and I could do it at a weekend, in my spare time.”

Abby still looked unsure.

“Look at it this way, I’d be doing my city a favor. It could save lives: it could save _my_ life!”

“If you’re sure…”

“I am. I’ll see you this weekend!” Isabelle grinned confidently at them and strode out, somewhat glad of an excuse to return to those crazy Ghostbusters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! So it seems as though once a week is about right for updates. Obviously circumstances come into play, so shoot me a message if it seems to be taking too long. Hope you enjoy Chapter Two, let me know if anything seems off, whether it's characterisation or a simple grammar mistake, your feedback is always appreciated. Thanks for the reviews and follows, it makes my day!
> 
> Merry Christmas!
> 
> Ella xoxo


	4. Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A mysterious visitor and a return trip to the firehouse.

**Three**

 

The lift stopped at the twenty-second floor, and Isabelle stepped off. Making her way down the hall, she rummaged through the pockets of her long black blazer, searching for her keys. Her fingers closed around a slip of paper. Confused, she pulled it out and unfolded it. A phone number was scrawled on it along with a single name- Holtzmann. Smiling and shaking her head slightly, she put the number back in her pocket and retrieved her keys, unlocking the door and pushing her way in.

She collapsed onto the sofa and pulled her laptop onto her knee, settling down to work.

 

Several hours later, she jerked awake, the laptop having turned itself off a long while ago. The clock read 11:49 pm.

“Damn.” She muttered, shaking her head.

“ _Damn_ , indeed.” A silken voice drawled from behind her.

She froze.

“If this little hellhole is anything to go by, you've fallen quite a ways, Miss Moran.”

 

* * *

 

Isabelle knocked on the open door to the main office, and was immediately confronted by Holtzmann bounding up to her.

“Ghost Girl returns! How bout that.”

“Hey, I thought I was Ghost Girl!” Erin shouted from the corner where she and Abby were writing out what seemed to be one gargantuan equation on a chalkboard.

“UHH-UHH!” Holtzmann made a noise like a buzzer. “You’ve been de- _throned,_ Gilbert!”

Erin made a noise of disappointment before being pulled back to the chalkboard by Abby.

“Ghost Girl? Sounds like a superhero…” Isabelle chuckled.

“Nah, you’d make a rubbish superhero,” she looked her up and down as if evaluating.

Isabelle’s mouth dropped open indignantly. “Excuse you, I’d make an excellent superhero!”

“No, you’re too pretty. Your face’d get mashed up quickly.”

Not sure whether this was a compliment or an insult, Isabelle laughed awkwardly.

“Thanks, I think.”

The blonde grinned and shot her finger guns.

“Anyway, I have your equipment.” She indicated the bulky backpack she was carrying.

“Lemme take that!” Holtzmann rushed to take it off her, and Isabelle could've sworn she heard Patty chuckle from somewhere to her right. “Abby! Guys! We got tech stuff!”

Slowly, the other three made their way over to them after finishing up what they were doing.

“So.” Isabelle started pulling equipment from the bag in Holtzmann’s arms. “Here’s what I got for you.”

 

* * *

  


After everything was set up and explained to them, they all retired to the booth with a cup of tea.

“Any new ghost busts for you guys, then?”

“No. There was a call, but it was just a cat in an abandoned apartment. What about you? See any more?” Abby asked interestedly.

“Plenty. None spoke, though.”

“It’s been a quiet week for all of us then.” Patty smiled contentedly.

“It’s been _boooooriiiiing._ ” Holtzmann groaned.

Abby rolled her eyes. “I thought you were working on that portable containment unit?”

“I was. I am! I just can’t seem to compact it enough to get it, well, portable, without it overheating.” The blonde explained, huffing a frustrated sigh.

“Have you tried using circuit boards?” Isabelle asked, leaning forward in her seat.

“What? No, that wouldn’t work, that’s for computers and stuff.”

“Not necessarily…”

“Show me.”

Holtzmann dragged Isabelle over to her work station, where the two got into a heated discussion. The other three shot each other looks of amusement.

 

“Ten bucks.” Erin said with a grin.

“What? No way am I taking that bet, I like my money in my wallet thank you very much.” Abby pushed her glasses further up her nose.

“What about a sweepstake?” Patty asked. The other two looked at her with curiosity. “Ten bucks on when they do it. Whoever’s closest gets it all.”

“Hey, this one’s good! Can we keep her?” Holtzmann called over to the trio. Abby and Erin grinned at each other.

“We’re in.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Thanks so much for the kudos and comments, much appreciated as always!
> 
> Just a filler chapter really, something to add a little suspense and move the plot along a little. Sorry it's such a small one, having to post today because I'm at a party tomorrow...and Friday...and Saturday...and I'm seeing my extended family on Sunday. I'll let you know how that one goes!! 
> 
> Hope you all had a great holiday, and a happy new year to you all!
> 
> Ella xoxo


	5. AUTHOR'S NOTE--PLEASE READ

_ **AUTHORS NOTE: IMPORTANT!** _

 

Hi, I'm Ella! I know that there aren't many of you reading this in comparison to other, more Holtzbert-inclined fics but I want to start off by saying that I love every single one of you, whether you're just browsing, giving kudos or leaving comments. I love all of you, thank you so much! It can really brighten my day to see an email telling me someone likes my story.

 

This is just a note to say that this fic is going to be redone. I'll leave the chapters up but there will be no new ones until I'm happy with the first few again. The reason for this is simple: Isabelle. I really need to work on her characterisation (or lack thereof), because I really do pride myself on my characters, all of my original stories that I work on focus around building a character and it's something that I truly enjoy doing. I just feel that with My Kind of Crazy I've tried so hard to make her realistic that I've completely washed away the character I had in my head, making her simplistic and somewhat boring.

 

I also would like to add some depth to the story and go inside Isabelle's head more, so that it's not all dialogue. I won't be changing the plot I have planned at all, just trying to bring through the Isabelle I have in my head into my writing. 

 

If anybody has any ideas, or anything they'd like to see in either the plot or Isabelle, then NOW is the time to tell me!!

 

Thank you so much for your time and I'll keep you all updated when I edit the chapters. Also, what sort of media, if any, would you like to communicate and fangirl via? I have links to my twitter and my snapchat on my profile, but I don't use them much because I don't feel like anybody listens?? I may just be going crazy but shoot me a message with your opinion!

 

Thanks again,

Ella xoxo


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